2 tb Butter or margarine
2 oz Unsweetened chocolate
2 c Buttermilk or sour milk
1 ts Vanilla extract
2 1/2 c Unbleached flour
2 1/4 c Packed brown sugar; divided
3 ts Baking powder
1 ts Baking soda
1/2 ts Salt
1 c Semisweet chocolate chips
; optional
1/2 c Unsweetened cocoa plus
2 tb Unsweetened cocoa
2 1/2 c Boiling water
Recipe by: Still Life with Menu by Mollie Katzen
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9" x 13" baking pan.
Melt butter and unsweetened chocolate together. This is
most easily done in a microwave, or in a double boiler over
hot water. In the meantime, heat buttermilk gently in a
saucepan until just a little warmer than body temperature.
Do NOT boil or cook it.
In a large mixing bowl combine flour, 1 cup of the brown
sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well,
using your hands if necessary to break up any lumps and
achieve a uniform mixture. Stir in chocolate chips, if
using. Pour the butter/chocolate mixture and the
buttermilk into the dry ingredients and stir until well
combined. Spread into prepared pan.
Combine remaining 1 1/4 cups of brown sugar with
unsweetened cocoa in a small bowl. Sprinkle this over the
batter in the pan as evenly as possible. Next, pour
boiling water gently and evenly over the sugar/cocoa
mixture; do NOT stir. It will look as if you are making a
mud pie; not to worry. Place the pan immediatley into the
preheated oven.
Bake for 30 - 35 minutes, or until the center feels firm to
the touch. Watch carefully, as it tends to overbrown around
the edges. Cool at least 15 minutes before serving.
The finished result is a cake with a fudgy sauce hidden
underneath. When serving, invert the cake so that the fudgy
sauce becomes a topping.
Fantastic served warm (within 1 - 2 hours of baking) with
vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt. Also good cold; the
fudge sauce tastes like chocolate pudding.
Notes:This cake tastes wonderfully rich, but in reality is
relatively low in fat. A great celebration cake.JM
